First Harvest

We had our first harvest! I noticed peas – actual peas! – ready for picking. And then some strawberries, too. Dang. I grew food. Real food!

The sugar snap peas are on the outsides, corn a little closer to the middle. The lone plant in the middle is what is left of my pumpkins after the birds got the sprouts. We finally had to put up a bird net.

The strawberries are tiny, but, OH what a mighty flavor.

Brendan helped pick the peas. Notice his full mouth. Smile. We “fought” over the take after we rinsed off what hadn’t already made it to his mouth.

I wanted to grow a garden to get him (and maybe Sela) interested in veggies. I think this only works because he doesn’t actually realize what he is eating is healthy because it tastes so dang good. Mission accomplished!

Orange Belt Testing

Brendan started taking Tae Kwon Do classes in January or February. (TKD is the Korean martial art, so it is part heritage, part exercise, and part learning things like self-discipline & leadership.) He earned his white belt the first day for “trying his best.” From there on he had to start learning several things before he could test for the next level. At Brendan’s age level the kids have a set of 10 principles to start working on. They include things like “Be loving to your family” and “Be cooperative with others.” Then they learn the first 8 moves or so of the form, the first third of the one-step sparring, and a breaking technique. For testing, the kids must perform each of these things for Grandmaster Kim. For Brendan’s age, the instructors (Master Markman & Master Dutson) both help a great deal, but the kids have to try and put forth the effort. And they must use their breaking technique to actually break a board.

For Brendan’s test for his yellow belt, it just so happened that Brian’s mom & Kate were in town, so they got to see this event with us. It was great. Brendan broke his board the very first try. Additionally, Grandmaster Kim wrote Brendan’s name on his uniform in Korean. We actually had him put Brendan’s Korean name there (Hyo Joon). Wickedly cool.


For Brendan’s test for his orange belt, things didn’t go so well. The difficulty came for the breaking. For this belt, the breaking technique is a front snap kick. You start in a fighting stance and then bring your back leg up, bend then knee and hit the board with the ball of the foot. Not so easy for a little kid with not so great balance. Brendan was the third of 12 kids doing the same break. After they had all completed theirs, he was still working on it with Master Markman. He was making some progress, but still hadn’t broken the board. That is when Grandmaster Kim came out, made one adjustment, and Brendan nailed it. That is why the Grandmaster is the Grandmaster!


We are very proud of Brendan for doing this. Some days he doesn’t want to go, but when he gets there he just loves it. Makes Brian and I want to do it, too!

The Season That Almost Wasn't

We started t-ball for Brendan in April. This spring being what it was, t-ball was almost the season that wasn’t. The first game was snowed out. The second game was rained out. The third game was pictures – and then we canceled due to rain. The next two weeks the weather started out rainy and miserable, but turned out okay. At the end of the season they tacked on two make-up games. Hilarious. Brendan’s friend A. was also on the team, which was pretty neat. They really enjoyed playing – when they finally got the chance. I agree with A’s mom, though, that maybe we will do soccer in the fall because there is much more activity (read: running around like crazy fools!). We’ll see how it goes.

A Very Lucky Dog

We were enjoying a nice warm Sunday with the whole family yesterday. Brian and I have taken the last few Sundays to work at getting the lawns in order, which requires mowing, raking and watering. When we water we have to move our sprinkler contraption every 20 minutes to get another part of the lawn. During one of these moves, we made a huge mistake. We left the kids inside with the dog and went out the front door to do our chore. Just as we were about to move the sprinkler (it IS a contraption and needs two people to move), the front door opens and Layka darted out – terribly excited to be going on a romp.

Now, lest you worry, I would not be able to write about this event this soon and with such relative levity had the outcome been horrible. As it was, we did watch in horror as Layka bounded right into a car driving by. Brian went immediately to the dog and I went to the driver. We saw the whole thing happen, and there is no way the driver could have stopped this from happening. It truly wasn’t her fault, and I tried to reassure her of that fact. I am sure she still felt badly.

Layka was in relative good shape. She wasn’t limping, not bleeding outrageously and not crying. She had a couple of spots of blood and a good deal more from her tail. I will try not to give so many details as to gross you out, but I did take her to the emergency vet. They x-rayed her and pronounced her a very lucky dog – nothing was damaged internally. The worst part was that her tail needed a partial amputation. They kept her overnight and she came home today. She is bandaged up and a little mellow, but otherwise okay.

All in all, this could have turned out worse. As a little kid – first grade, I think – I watched another dog of mine get in the head by a truck. She had to be put down by my dad. This incident yesterday brought up a bunch of old memories of that. Ugh. Layka, a very lucky dog indeed.